


A Mother's Love

by SansryaFangirl



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bisexual Iris West, Minor Felicity/Iris, Mommy Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 11:57:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16475126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SansryaFangirl/pseuds/SansryaFangirl
Summary: Nora and Iris reconcile





	A Mother's Love

Nora was crying softly in the loft, when Iris softly rapped at the door. 

"Honey...?"

"What do you want?" Nora snapped. Iris flinched but continued.

"I'm worried about you, as any mother would."

"Yeah, what kind of mother suppresses their  _daughter's_  powers?"

"I don't know and I don't want to know. Future stuff should be saved for future me. But the way I am now...I can't imagine ever intentionally hurting you! I love you."

"Y-yeah well, you did."

"Future me..."

"Right..."

"But isn't that timeline erased? You've already done tremendous damage to the timeline - I'm not angry, sweetheart - so maybe in this new future, I don't do that? Did you ever consider the reasons why future me would want you to be normal?"

"Y-yeah but my speed is the only thing I have of my dad!"

"Not true. You have his good heart. You have his heroism. You have his force of will. You have his awkward, nerdy, dorky personality, which is so cute by the way!" Iris giggled. Nora let out a sad chuckle. "You are so much more alike than you realize. I see so much of your father in you. I see so much of myself. It makes me wonder about my own past mistakes, and trust me, I made them. But now I lead Team Flash! We...are Team Flash. And we cannot protect this city while you're at war with someone who's not here right now and not even able to defend herself.  I am just me. I haven't even had you yet. And the way things are right now,  if I get pregnant, the baby I have now won't be you. Not really. You have come from a timeline that no longer truly exists."

Nora nodded, sniffling. 

"B-but...you...she...took away a part of me. A part of who I am. You took my choice away! If Grandpa did that to Dad, would that be ok?"

"Of course not, honey. But if he did, he would be only trying to protect him from getting himself murdered. Maybe you don't understand right now because you are not a parent, but parents will do ANYTHING to protect their kids. Anything. Your grandfather...he...lied about your grandmother for _years_. To my face. Told me she was dead when she wasn't."

By the look on Nora's face, she did not know that.

"And do you know how long it took me to hold that against him? It wasn't 6 months. It was far, far less."

"'I'm not you, Mum!" 

"I know that, honey. I'm just saying...perspective. This future of yours doesn't sound like its that safe of a place. Do you think maybe that your father's disappearance convinced Future Me that the same thing will happen to you if she lets it? That maybe she would lose the both of you if you knew you had powers? Maybe Future Me was searching for your father and she couldn't do that if she was constantly worried about you."

"But I could have handled that!" Nora cried. "I get not using my powers unless absolutely necessary, but she made sure I didn't even know about them and if I didn't find out on my own, she might never have even told me at all!"

Iris breathed. She knew Nora was right to be angry. Still, she hadn't done anything to her yet so the cold behavior she felt was still unjustified. She was doing her best to explain herself, and hoped Nora would understand.

"I don't have powers so I know what that's like. But I do know what it's like to shut off a part of yourself unwillingly. I do know what it's like to feel betrayed and lied to. Do you think I didn't feel betrayed when I found out your father was the Flash and he saw fit not to tell me that? I had to find out on my own. His excuse? To protect me. Remind you of anyone?" 

"I-I don't know about you and Dad's dramas. You never told me any of that."

Iris nodded. 

"You don't know about this then. A twisted Future Barry tried to stab and kill me. He did kill a friend of ours and would have killed everyone else if we hadn't stopped him."

Nora gasped. Suddenly, all anger at her mother was replaced by anger for her father.

"He called himself Savitar."

Nora snarled, "Savitar...was Dad?" She would have a pointed conversation about THAT with her father.

 _Savitar was Dad..and he tried to kill Mum!_  Suddenly Nora's mother issues did not seem that bad. Suddenly, it was like she had a villain origin story or something. Suddenly, the possibility of Nora herself becoming twisted and trying to kill her family was much more real. If even her father, dorky nerdy Barry could embrace the darkness...what did that say about her? Was she destined to either be suppressed or hurt others?

"Yes..but you see...I didn't blame my Barry for anything Savitar did! I still don't exactly know why..but I didn't. I moved past it and I killed Savitar myself before he could hurt anyone else. Nora...I've seen you in the field. I know you're inexperienced and that's Future Me's fault. I gave you the nickname XS for a reason. You are excessive at times. Maybe Future Me thought you being a hero would end in your death. And then she'd have no one.

This job, Nora....It's already cost us several of our friends. Countless innocent people. I cannot tell you the number of times someone stole Barry's speed or took control over his mind. What if you fall to mind control again? What's to stop you, the only speedster in town from murdering me?" 

Nora looked horrified. _She thinks I would try to kill her?_

"What happened today was-I wouldn't-"

"I know you wouldn't, Nora...but someone could  _make_  you. Or take your powers so they can do it themselves. Speedsters are like gods in this world. Even to this day, it baffles me how Barry can do the things he does and how you can do those things. In the wrong hands, they're  _catastrophic_."

Nora was beginning to understand.

"You could even end up erasing yourself from existence! You've had these powers for only a few months and already you've run back decades and made some big mistakes. Mistakes you have no way to take back. Where you came from, your world is even more dangerous because your father, Jay and Jesse aren't around to protect you or bail you out. One misstep...and you're dead. Forever. Can you imagine how much that would hurt the people who  _love_  you? The person you've chosen to hate so much?"

Nora cried, "Mummy, I don't hate you! I love you! I'm so s-sorry!" 

She threw herself into iris's arms, desperately sobbing and crying. "Y-you're right! You've been nothing but kind to me since I arrived here! I've been blaming you for something you haven't done yet. Please forgive me, mummy."

Iris, softly crying as well, stroked her daughter's hair lovingly. "There's nothing to forgive. You were just upset. When you're a mother...perhaps one day you might understand."

Nora nodded into her mother's chest, wetting it with her tears.

"So you don't care then...that I'm..."

"Gay? No. Of course, not. You dear old mum likes ladies too. If I wasn't with Barry, I may have asked out Felicity Smoak." She giggled to herself.

Nora was floored. Her mother was bi? Another lie from future Iris. Or maybe losing her husband made it pointless to mention? Still, she would deal with that later.

"I love you so much, baby. So much that sometimes it's hurting me. And that's without even giving birth to you yet. You are my blood. You are my daughter. Any mother would be proud to call you as such. I will always protect you and love you. Love means sometimes doing bad things to keep those you love alive. and if you hating me means you're still alive, then I guess hating me is an acceptable cost. Being a mother...let alone a single mother...it's the hardest job in the world. I have no idea how I'm going to manage it but I hope I do my best. It's all anyone can expect." 

Nora smiled, wiping her eyes. Then her face darkened slightly again.

"That Savitar thing...we'll circle around to that. I should have a talk with my dad next."

Iris chuckled.

Nora continued to cry.  _How could I hate my own mummy over something like this? I know how dangerous metahuman powers are. If I had a child, I don't think I'd want them doing this job either. Plus Dad....who knows where he even went in 2021? How am I supposed to avoid the same fate?_

She would look into that at a later point. For now, she quietly cuddled her beautiful, loving mother. It took her this long but she finally saw what she inherited from her mother. Her unflinching strength.  Her force of will to do whatever was necessary, no matter the cost. She would save her father, and put their family back together. She swore it.


End file.
